Most Americans believe in a higher power of some sort.
That is among the key six findings from a Pew Research survey of Americans conducted in December 2017:
- 90% believe in a higher power.
- Christians are particularly likely to believe in a higher power (99%). (Did some choose the wrong option?) 80% believe in a biblical God.
- Half of Americans believe God determines what happens to them all or most of the time.
- 49% of those in their 30s and 40s believe in a biblical God. Even with this age gap, an overwhelming majority of the youngest adults continue to believe in God or a higher power.
- Americans with a high school education or less are more likely than college graduates to believe in God or a higher power (94% vs. 84%). They also are more likely than those who graduated from college to believe in the God of the Bible (66% vs. 45%) and to believe that a higher power determines what happens in their lives most or all of the time (59% vs. 33%).
- Republicans and Democrats have very different beliefs about God.